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I'm not sure how I feel about adding protected lanes from Division to North on Elston.

I normally don't use Elston for cycling because the its a terrible bike route between Courtland and Diversey. I instead prefer to ride on Clybourn, even though there aren't any bike lanes since the traffic is much more predictable and the 6 way intersections have better layouts for cycling.

Are there any future plans to address the areas of Elston that are prohibitive to cycling in the future?

While I’m excited to see more protected lanes, I’m disappointed with the location choices. Both of these stretches of road are already great for cycling and it seems like a waste of resources to improve an already good stretch of road instead of fixing a bad stretch. I’d rather see these lanes shifted to Elston from Cortland to Logan and 18th from Halsted to Canal to address the problem spots that prevent these streets from being good cycling routes.

On a side note it would be nice if the MBAC meetings were at a time more people could attend instead of always being when most people are at work.

Yea, I'd like to see them build a protective bike lane right through Elston/Damen/Fullerton, the worst intersection on the NW side.

Cameron Puetz said:

While I’m excited to see more protected lanes, I’m disappointed with the location choices. Both of these stretches of road are already great for cycling and it seems like a waste of resources to improve an already good stretch of road instead of fixing a bad stretch. I’d rather see these lanes shifted to Elston from Cortland to Logan and 18th from Halsted to Canal to address the problem spots that prevent these streets from being good cycling routes.

On a side note it would be nice if the MBAC meetings were at a time more people could attend instead of always being when most people are at work.

It would also be great to get better access to Elton from Division or North. Division east of Elston is a complete disaster. There are two terrible bridges, countless potholes, the auto traffic is horrible because of the Halsted Bridge repair. North is also unsafe, though for different reasons.

I think the improvements to 18th will help a lot of people. This route may not see the volume of commute traffic that Milwaukee and Kinzie get, but it's important to many cyclists at all hours throughout the week.

Drivers will fly down it waaaay above the speed limit frequently, and there are some semi-blind intersections. A few semis are parked in the bike lane most days, so it will be interesting to see what they do.

Tim S said:

Not really a need on Elston is there? Pretty free of traffic and wide as all get out. Perhaps I am not riding it at the right time to see a need.

18th as an east-west bike route is extremely well-placed and convenient, and relatively painless =except= for the scary bridge over the canal (cars fly and if they're taking up both lanes there's not much space left for a bike.)

This piece of protected lane means a non-scary ride all the way from Western to the Lakefront access.

Anne Alt said:

I think the improvements to 18th will help a lot of people. This route may not see the volume of commute traffic that Milwaukee and Kinzie get, but it's important to many cyclists at all hours throughout the week.

I'll go out on a limb and say that the location of these bike lanes has to do with feasibility more than need.

Of the four bike lanes announced three are on streets that have relatively few residents and or retail businesses, so there is no one around to complain. Smart moves by the respective aldermen that carries little political risk

I still want to see them put a bike lane on Milwaukee/Clark/Wells/Lincoln/Southport/Name-any-other-street-in-a-gentrified-neighborhood-with-lots-of-retail.